Spending more money on the Triumph

Isn't it amazing how quickly costs can escalate when playing with motorbikes? The front brake lever on the Triumph had been getting closer and closer to the bars over the last few weeks; as commuting through London traffic without braking is fairly exciting, I decided to do something about it. I'd had the master cylinder rebuilt last year, and bled the brakes a couple of times this year already, so I convinced myself what I really needed was a brake upgrade...wouldn't you know it, Norman Hyde the Triumph tuner advertised such a kit on his website - a larger disc, Brembo 4-pot caliper and braided brake hose. I was assured over the phone that the kit was bolt-in, no further mods necessary, but being a bit wary, not to say hamfisted, I decided to entrust the job to Nick at Revolution motorcycles. I also decided that while he was working on the front end, he might as well fit the uprated front springs I'd bought to match the adjustable rear shock, but never fitted.

I'll skip over the gory details, but needless to say the kit wasn't a simple bolt-in, the caliper leaked like hell, the disc took an age to get to run true; the old master cylinder wouldn't operate the brake properly so I ended up sourcing a larger-bore master cylinder (used) which then needed a rebuild kit.....you get the picture. Then right in the middle of the job Nick got ill and lost his premises, so I've been pulling my hair out (well, if I had any) with frustration for the last couple of weeks.

Finally, I collected her today. The brakes work, the forks spring instead of crashing, in fact she does feel a bit more together. And the new brake is shiny. The bill for the parts was ridiculous, I haven't a clue how much I'm going to get charged for labour, but at least I'm mobile again - I've been so grumpy these last few weeks without the bike you wouldn't believe, especially as we've had a really nice August. Never mind, LF is away in France so I intend to get some miles on her while I can, random trips through the Surrey countryside to try out my new handling and braking.

Before

After